Dear Faith Family,
We are now officially on our way in this Lenten journey! Perhaps the exclamation mark, like Chaz's "God bless and Happy Lent!" farewell on Sunday (insert winking emoji!), is not quite seasonally appropriate. After all, while we know what awaits us on the other side of the journey, the fall before the rise is sobering. Maybe that's why no "Lent Calendars" are lining the grocery store shelves?!
The truth is the rhythms of Lent require a different kind of commitment than the preparatory efforts of other seasons. While the Cycle of Light (Advent - Christmas - Epiphany) is, in some way, about receiving, the season of Lent is about giving up.
Giving up speaking first to listen. Giving up eating to grieve. Giving up distractions to see.
As Jesus' depicted in our final Kingdom Epiphany, the prerequisite for sharing in God’s life, for a life full and forever (i.e., eternal life), is simply being where He is. And where is Jesus? Well, where He always is, with those in need. Those who have a hunger or thirst in life in need of satisfaction. With those who are lost and in need of being found and welcomed. Those exposed, naked, and in need of covering and protection. Those ill in body and soul and in need of care. Those imprisoned, trapped and isolated, and in need of presence.
And while we don’t always “see Him” in such persons and places, we believe that Jesus' desire is for us to live with eyes wide open to not only our need for Him but his presence in the neediness of others. The Lenten Season provides us with a special time to focus on seeing Jesus where He is by giving up those things that distract our vision of neediness—our own and our neighbors. That is what the new-to-us practice of Abstinence is all about.
CHOOSING WHAT TO GIVE UP
What are your daily habits—activities, attitudes, and interactions—that keep you from “seeing Him” in needy persons? That’s the question you’ll need to answer to decide what to abstain from during Lent.
Our answers will be as varied and unique as our souls, though there may be some similarities to what distracts our vision. Here are a few examples as you prayerfully consider what to abstain from (ideally) beginning today through Easter:
Phone Distractions | Whether an app or game, browsing your favorite internet sites, or scrolling through social media, do you “instinctually” grab your phone when you feel bored, sad, anxious, or empty? If so, consider giving up one or all those things that distract you from your emotions and what the Spirit might be trying to show you.
Rhythm Distractions | Do you stay up late watching shows or reading books and find it hard to wake up into a new day with a sharpness of mind or heart? Do you wake up sharp but jump directly into action without much thought? Do you fill your weeknights with activities that entertain but little that uplift or help out? Could giving up to sleep an hour earlier, giving up a morning activity for twenty minutes of prayerful thought, or giving up a weeknight for something more substantial help you be more ready to see Jesus each day?
Sinful Distractions | Sometimes, the plain truth is that we are not accidentally blind but willfully so. As Jesus said, we “love the darkness rather than the light because our works are evil.” There is no more excellent time and safer season to give up living in the darkness to walk in Light (1 John 1:5-10).
WHAT TO DO WHILE ABSTAINING
Similar to fasting, a season of abstinence is filled with prayer. When you find yourself longing for what you’ve given up, let that feeling draw you into the reason for your choice: to see Jesus in your neediness and the neediness of others. Rather than merely confessing your longing and the difficulties of your fidelity, ask the Spirit for eyes to see the brokenness within and without and for how you can meet and serve Jesus there.
May we find ourselves more with Jesus, and Jesus with us, in and among those whom He loves this Lenten Season.
Love you, faith family! God bless.